slick grip
Michael Allegretto
After playing a few times the grip seemed too slick to me. I tried
cleaning it off with a damp cloth, but when the wrap was rubbed dry
it still felt a bit slick (noticeably slicker than the wrap of my
low-end Viking cue). I tried using a shaft cleaning solution, which
is advertised as also being acceptable for the grip. No difference
there either. I talked to the guy who sold me the cue and he said
that what he does is rub the grip very hard with waxed paper to give
the wrap a slighty tacky feel. I started to do this, but then I
wondered if it was such a good idea to put wax on the linen.
Does anyone have any suggestions about this?
-- Mike
Sherm Adamson
Don't put wax paper or wax of any kind on your linen. The wrap on
the Helmstetters, I believe, are sealed with a light coat of laquer. This
can easily be taken care of by any qualified cuesmith but you really need
a lathe to handle it properly. If you don't know someone to take care of
this, e-mail me with your location and I'll might be able to recommend
someone in your vicinity. At the very worse case scenario you might have
to have it re-wraped to get it where it feels exactly the way YOU want it
to feel. I charge $40 for a re-wrap which should be pretty close to what
it would cost you locally. The smoothness of the wrap is kind of a
personal thing, I usually make my custom cues with a very smooth wrap but
not laquered over (like a Meucci). They have been described as feeling
like a silk ribbon at the smoothest to semi-coarse if that's the way the
customer want's it.This is ONE of the advantages of buying a CUSTOM cue
instead of a production cue....You can get it the way YOU WANT IT!
Good Luck,
Sherm Adamson
Sherm Custom Cues
sher...@iac.net
Bob Jewett
: I recently purchase a new cue (Helmstetter) with a linen wrap.
: After playing a few times the grip seemed too slick to me. ...
: Does anyone have any suggestions about this?
Yes. Get a rubber grip. Seriously. If you don't want your hand to
slip on the grip, smooth nylon or linen is the wrong choice. Surgical
supply stores sell "7/8 inch surgical drainage tubing, 18 inch length"
at a dollar or so each if you just want to test the concept, and
billiard supply stores that cater to carom players will have sturdier,
thicker rubber grips that you can roll onto your cue.
Some players use a slip stroke, in which the cue stick remains mostly
stationary during the final back stroke, while their hand moves back on
the grip. A slippery grip is useful for this.
Bob Jewett
Ron Shepard
I play with an unwrapped cue, and I've never really liked the feel of
wrapped cues (linen or nylon). Wrapped cues are at worst slimy, and at
best slippery. I wonder why unwrapped cues aren't more popular with
players who don't like that slippery feel that wrapped cues develop after
a few hours of playing. I can see the advantage for a slip stroke, but
I've seen only a few players that use one, so this can't account for the
marked popularity of wrapped cues over unwrapped ones. Can anyone (player
or cue maker) tell me the reason for the popularity of wrapped cues,
particularly among those who don't like the slippery feel?
$.02 -Ron Shepard
Jonas Znidarsic
> I play with an unwrapped cue, and I've never really liked the feel of
> wrapped cues (linen or nylon). Wrapped cues are at worst slimy, and at
> best slippery. I wonder why unwrapped cues aren't more popular with
> players who don't like that slippery feel that wrapped cues develop after
> a few hours of playing. I can see the advantage for a slip stroke, but
> I've seen only a few players that use one, so this can't account for the
> marked popularity of wrapped cues over unwrapped ones. Can anyone (player
> or cue maker) tell me the reason for the popularity of wrapped cues,
> particularly among those who don't like the slippery feel?
The reason? I would NEVER touch a cue without irish linnen wrap. When I take
my cue in my hand (I had Tim Scruggs make me one in 1991), it feels
absolutely delightfull! I tried to shoot with Meuccis, but it wasn't meant to
be. I even tried (as Bob Jewett suggests) that ugly rubber hose old billiards
shooters use over here (no pun intended, guys who shoot carom games here are
old, all of them)... yuck! It doesn't do it for me. Cuetec and it's space age
materials is even worse, it sends shivers down my spine (but not the way my
girlfriend does). McDermott's cork wrap (available on old D series cues) was
interesting, leather looked fine but did not feel too good...
What I'm trying to say is that everybody has his own preference. It's usually
how you start with the game. If you get used to irish linen, that's your
thing from there on. Irish linen is my thing. It feels right. My hand does
not slip (it used to, for the first couple of days, when linen is all
polished and new). It looks good. I'm proud of the way my cue looks, with all
those custom inlays (my design), classy ebony and little white specks on the
wrap. And by the way, when hands get sweatty, there IS no beter wrap
available!
--
*** Who is General Failure and why is he reading my disk? ***
Jonas Znidarsic
http://www.jonas.eunet.si
rayer
In article <4jmjb1$9...@natasha.rmii.com>, mich...@qadas.com says...
>
>cleaning it off with a damp cloth, but when the wrap was rubbed dry
>it still felt a bit slick (noticeably slicker than the wrap of my
>low-end Viking cue). I tried using a shaft cleaning solution, which
>is advertised as also being acceptable for the grip. No difference
>there either. I talked to the guy who sold me the cue and he said
>that what he does is rub the grip very hard with waxed paper to give
>the wrap a slighty tacky feel. I started to do this, but then I
>wondered if it was such a good idea to put wax on the linen.
>
>
>
Mike,
Don't put wax paper or wax of any kind on your linen. The wrap on
the Helmstetters, I believe, are sealed with a light coat of laquer. This
can easily be taken care of by any qualified cuesmith but you really need
a lathe to handle it properly. If you don't know someone to take care of
this, e-mail me with your location and I'll might be able to recommend
someone in your vicinity. At the very worse case scenario you might have
to have it re-wraped to get it where it feels exactly the way YOU want it
to feel. I charge $40 for a re-wrap which should be pretty close to what
it would cost you locally. The smoothness of the wrap is kind of a
personal thing, I usually make my custom cues with a very smooth wrap but
not laquered over (like a Meucci). They have been described as feeling
like a silk ribbon at the smoothest to semi-coarse if that's the way the
customer want's it.This is ONE of the advantages of buying a CUSTOM cue
instead of a production cue....You can get it the way YOU WANT IT!
Good Luck,
Sherm Adamson
Sherm Custom Cues
sher...@iac.net
I had this problem. I ended up buying another queue because the
only solution I found was using a "butt condom" -- a thin flexible
rubber tube -- over the linen. Many billiard pro shops sell them
for about $3 or $4 each. If you don't care about the weight, try
it. They are very tacky. You can keep a very relaxed back hand
without slipping. Many world class 3-cushion players use them --
Sang Lee among them.
My current cue is all wood. In my opinion, linen is for beds. But
then so are condoms...
Raye.
--
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Raye Raskin <ra...@ia-us.com> | |
| IA Corporation | Three-cushion billiards |
| 1900 Powell Street, Suite 600 | is to pool, |
| Emeryville, CA 94608-1840 | what tennis |
| (510)450-6880 voice | is to racketball. |
| (510)450-7099 fax | |
---------------------------------------------------------------
Nick Passino
Kevalar has a nice rough cottony feel,
while spectra is much more like silk.
The great thing about either is that:
1- neither is affected by sweaty hands... it'll keep a uniform grip
weather you play one game or fifty.
2- Both are LONG lasting, and VERY resiliant to just about anything
you could do to it. (both materials are used to make bullet-proof
vests).
3- the silkyness (for spectra) or the mild coarseness (for kevlar)
is -only- in the direction of the wrap (ie 90degree angle to the
length of the cue). This means that when you grip it and shoot, it
won't slide forward or backwards on your hand. It feels one way or
the other only when you run your fingers along the "grain" of the
wrap.
4- (kinda a joke, but true if you ever need it, and are quick/REAL
lucky)- The wrap is bulletproof!- Someone pulls a gun on you, pull
out your cue and do that wonder-woman-deflecting-type-thing ;)
No really though. these are the only two choices I give for wrapping
cues now, and no one has complained- in fact, I've gotten nothing
but compliments.
It -is- a pricer wrap, as both kevlar and spectra aren't the
cheapest things in the world... but the cost in materials will be
only $10-25 more than for one of those
fancy-smancy-virgin-irish-linen wraps. So in real terms- If a linen
wrap would run you about $40, a kevlar wrap would be about $50-60,
or a spectra wrap for about $65-75 (spectra is thinner, and as we
all know- thinner takes more time to lay right).
Check it out if ya have the chance.
if ya at least have someone in your area that's willing to do the
wrap, but can't find a source for either, have them email me.
Hank Miller, Ph.D., TSU Counseling Center
>In article <jewettDp...@netcom.com>, jew...@netcom.com (Bob Jewett) wrote:
>
>>Michael Allegretto (mich...@qadas.com) wrote:
>>: I recently purchase a new cue (Helmstetter) with a linen wrap.
>>: After playing a few times the grip seemed too slick to me. ...
>>
>>: Does anyone have any suggestions about this?
>>
>>Yes. Get a rubber grip. Seriously. If you don't want your hand to
>>slip on the grip, smooth nylon or linen is the wrong choice. Surgical
>>supply stores sell "7/8 inch surgical drainage tubing, 18 inch length"
>>at a dollar or so each if you just want to test the concept, and
>>billiard supply stores that cater to carom players will have sturdier,
>>thicker rubber grips that you can roll onto your cue.
>>
>>Some players use a slip stroke, in which the cue stick remains mostly
>>stationary during the final back stroke, while their hand moves back on
>>the grip. A slippery grip is useful for this.
>
>wrapped cues (linen or nylon). Wrapped cues are at worst slimy, and at
>best slippery. I wonder why unwrapped cues aren't more popular with
>players who don't like that slippery feel that wrapped cues develop after
>a few hours of playing. I can see the advantage for a slip stroke, but
>I've seen only a few players that use one, so this can't account for the
>marked popularity of wrapped cues over unwrapped ones. Can anyone (player
>or cue maker) tell me the reason for the popularity of wrapped cues,
>particularly among those who don't like the slippery feel?
>
Ron,
You raise an interesting question to which (not surpisingly) I don't have
an answer:-) I can, however give you some statistics. Of the cues I sell,
($850-$25,000 with the majority in the $1200-$4500 range) roughly 80% are
sold with linen wraps, perhaps 15% have leather wraps and 5% are wrapless.
Bear in mind, leather wraps usually appear on pricier cues and the *least*
expensive wrapless I have had cost $3750.
Personally, I like the feel of a leather wrap. My hands don't sweat very much
at all. I'm not sure how someone with *really* sweaty hands would feel about
a leather wrap. Any comments???
Hank
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Phil.@.epix.net
Like Hank above one of my advantages is that I don't have moisture problems on
my hands when I play, but friends of mind who play golf hate leather grips if
they have moisture problems and if it rains and they get wet those grips are
close to treacherous. But there are those who will play with nothing but
leather wraps because they like the feel. Your choice.